A police dog has demonstrated to be a very good boy indeed as he sniffed out more than one million euros stashed in two suitcases.
The dog, called Elio, showed off his extraordinary sense of smell during a routine police check in Scandicci, a town southwest of Florence, Italy.
In a video released by the Italian Guardia di Finanza, a police corp responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling, the black Labrador could be seen guiding an officer towards the trunk of a coach.
The dog quickly located and pointed at a specific set of luggage, which it was later revealed contained €1,075,600 (£926,891) in cash.
Piles of €10, €20 and €50 banknotes were tied together with rubber bands and stuffed inside plastic bags within two suitcases.
The sniffer dog was taking part in a police operation carrying out routine checks on passengers and their belongings leaving and arriving at the busy bus station Villa Costanza.
The force focused its attention on passengers on a route considered likely to be targeted by the smuggling of both drugs and cash.
The suitcases containing the staggering amount of cash belonged to a Chinese passenger living in Italy.
An investigation has been launched, and the cash has been seized by the police force.
Cash couriers, the Guardia di Finanza said, are a widespread phenomenon across Italy and are often used as a means to export abroad cash or perform money laundry.
Police dogs such as Elio have been trained to detect the particular ink used in the cash printing process.
This makes these intelligent animals able to locate large, hidden volumes of bank notes.
Police detection dogs can also be trained to sniff out a number of drugs, explosives, ivory and contraband electronics among other things human can’t detect with their sense of smell.
Detection dogs are not used only by police forces, as they can be trained to sniff out also bed bugs, cancer and mold.
